We try to ensure that all PTUK Registrants deliver the highest standards of therapeutic care. However, if you become unhappy with the service that you are given, or are worried about the conduct of a PTUK Registrant,
we suggest that you talk to our Registrant first about your concerns to try and sort things out informally. Every practising Registrant has to have a Clinical Supervisor, so you may wish to talk to them as well.
We encourages early resolution of complaints including use of mediation where appropriate.

However if for any reason this is not possible, or hasn't solved the issue, then you can always raise your concerns directly with us. To make complaints hearings as quick, fair and effective as possible we
have a three stage process:

Mediation

Pre-hearing assessment

Professional Conduct Hearing

Phone 01825 761143 stating that you wish to complain about a PTUK Registrant, with brief details and your own contact phone number. You will then be given an email or postal address for you to provide more details.
If you call out of office hours please leave a message. We aim to respond within 48 hours. Also let us know if you have difficulties in submitting a complaint in writing and we will suggest some help for you.

Alternatively you can write to:

The Chief Executive
Play Therapy UK
The Coach House
Belmont Road
Uckfield
East Sussex TN22 1BP

Mark your letter 'Highly Confidential and Urgent'.

The Chief Executive will contact you, normally within 48 hours and ask you for details: the name and address of the child or young person; the name and work address of the person that you are complaining
about; details of the services used including dates and number of sessions and any other relevant details - what has happened, as much information as possible

The Chief Executive will most probably recommend mediation in the first instance as the quickest and most effective way of resolving the issue. If this is not appropriate or turns out to be unsatisfactory
for you, a formal complaints procedure will be started.

The first stage is a Pre-Hearing Assessment Panel conducted by PTUK. The panel will have not less than three persons, appointed by PTUK’s Chief Executive and approved by the
British Council for Therapeutic Interventions With Children. These will include a Chair, a lay member of the public and a Play Therapist unconnected with your case. This panel
will decide if there are valid grounds for a complaint hearing. They will take into account:

The person that you are complaining about is a current Registrant of PTUK. We cannot deal with complaints against individuals or organisations who were not Registrants of PTUK at the time of the alleged breach
of professional conduct.

You must either have used the therapeutic play services of the Registrant or be complaining on behalf of a child or young person with whom the person has worked.

The complaint legitimately falls under one of the three headings for complaints specified in the PTUK Ethical Framework:

Professional misconduct – where the practitioner has contravened the ethical and behaviour standards that should reasonably be expected of a Registrant of PTUK.

Professional malpractice – where the service(s) provided have fallen below the standards that would reasonably be expected of a practitioner exercising
reasonable care and skill. Examples of 'malpractice' include: Incompetence, negligence, recklessness, inadequate professional services.

Bringing the profession into disrepute - signifies that the practitioner has acted in such an infamous or disgraceful way that the public's trust in the profession
might reasonably be undermined if they were accurately informed about all the circumstances of the case. This excludes complaints that may be considered vexatious, or those
that are based on personal opinions without evidence that harm is being caused to the clients.

A complaint must be lodged within three years of the alleged breach.

If the complaint is under investigation by the police or is likely to fall within the jurisdiction of any court or tribunal, for example for financial compensation,
PTUK will not usually accept and investigate the complaint.

If the complaint is rejected by the Panel, you and the Registrant complained against will be formally notified in writing.

If the complaint is accepted, the Chief Executive of PTUK will initiate the second stage of the formal complaints procedure by appointing a Professional Conduct Panel of not less than five persons to examine
the complaint in detail and decide whether the complaint is proved or not.

By post:

The British Council for Therapeutic Interventions With Children
24 Elm Quay Court
Nine Elms Lane
London SW8 5DE

If the complaint is proved, the panel will decide whether or not any sanction should be imposed upon the Registrant. These could include:

Probationary period. The Registrant may continue to practice under certain conditions with an increased amount of clinical supervision, with prescribed actions
that must be completed within a specified period of time

Suspension of Registrantship and removal from the PTUK Register. In this case the Registrant is 'struck off' the Register and is not allowed to practice as a Registrant.

The decision of the Professional Conduct Panel, together with details of any sanction, will be published in PTUK's journal and on this web site in such detail as deemed appropriate
to the findings and at its discretion. Such decisions will be based on considerations of public interest and the severity of the findings.

Any notification that PTUK, under these Procedures, is entitled to publish in its journal will also be published on the Register: http://www.playtherapyregister.org.uk against the name of the Registrant.